LG 55-inch OLED TV (55EM9700) finally goes on sale in Korea

LG has opened pre-orders for the world's first commercially available large-screen OLED TV. However, it's only on sale in its home land of South Korea at present.

The 55-inch 55EM9700 is essentially the same as the 55EM9600 Pocket-lint saw back at CES last year - although that model never made it to market in the end. It features a WRGB panel, which adds an extra white pixel to the normal red, green and blue ones in order to make images brighter and more vibrant, and the whole TV is just 4mm thick.

At just 10kg, the set is also one of the lightest 55-inch televisions known to man, and as it is an OLED display, its viewing angle is wider than those capable of other technologies.

Approximately 1,400 South Korean stores will be stocking the TV, with shipping expected to start in February. Interested parties in the UK, US, the rest of Europe and Asia will have their own localised versions released soon after. Make sure you've got a bulging wallet though: the 55EM9700 costs 1,100,000 Korean won - that's around £6,300, or more tan $10,000.

The LG 55EM9700 will be shown at CES 2013 from 8 January. Pocket-lint will be there in force to bring you more.

Our senior ed of news and features has been a tech and games journalist for more than 27 years, and has been with Pocket-lint for over five. Rik has edited a number of videogame magazines in the past, was deputy editor of Home Cinema Choice, and his TV career included stints as co-presenter of Channel 4's Gamesmaster and Sky One’s Games World.